CW Capital is mired in paperwork in $173M in Stuy Town case

Special servicer gives no reason for delay or when tenants will see rent money

Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village and Dan Garodnick
Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village and Dan Garodnick

CW Capital is stuck in administrative hell as it works to return $173 million to tenants of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village who paid too much in rent.

The firm does not have a date for compensating 27,000 tenants who paid market rates for apartments that were rent-stabilized. Earlier today, Crain’s reported CW Capital will miss an October deadline.

“A timeframe was never established,” said Brian Moriarty, a spokesperson for the building owner. “We hope that tenants are paid as soon as possible, but it is a lengthy administrative process given the number of claimants.”

The 11,000-unit complex and CW Capital negotiated a settlement to a 2007 class-action lawsuit, which a New York state judge signed off on in April. In June, some 2,000 tenants learned they would be spared mid-lease rent hikes as part of a deal between CW Capital and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, as previously reported.

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Former Stuy Town owner Tishman Speyer improperly raised the rents, but CW Capital is repaying the funds because it now controls the complex; Tishman Speyer charged the higher rates at the same time that it was enrolled in a tax abatement program intended to prevent significant rent hikes, Crain’s reported.

“This money belongs to tenants who overpaid and they should get it back without further delay,” said Dan Garodnick, a City Council member and Stuy Town resident, told the publication. [Crain’s]Mark Maurer

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that CW Capital missed a court-ordered deadline for compensating Stuy Town tenants.